Self-driving cars have been commonplace in the San Francisco and Bay Area traffic for some time.

Waymo, Cruise, Nuro… billion-dollar projects are piloted here. At the moment, Cruise has its license suspended due to a recent accident under investigation.

The waitlists to be enrolled as a customer are long, and I’m still waiting. So, I was all in when Josh Baillon on my team offered me to skip the Uber and join him on a Waymo. Check out the video below for some highlights of the trip.

  • The driving style felt safe- smooth, careful, and defensive.
  • I kept thinking about what I would have done in each situation that occurred and felt that I was witnessing the driving style of a professional and experienced driving instructor.
  • From a safety perspective, I liked the experience more than I do – on average – with a human driver.

That said… the whole “chatting with the taxi/Uber driver” topic is a different chapter. Some love it; some don’t. Perhaps the future of autonomous taxis includes the option to add a human or AI “driver” as a passenger just for social conversation.

Thanks, Josh and Waymo, for the ride!

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